Hitting the high point.: Sillans la Cascade to Moustiers Ste. Marie
Some days are just about as perfect as they can be. They start well, they end well, and the intervening hours are filled with beauty. Today was like that. Sun all day, beautiful villages, magnificent scenery, open roads with no traffic, perfect. I got up early, just before sunrise and before breakfast was ready, so I lolled in bed reading for a while while the coffee brewed. After breakfast I packed up and startout on the first climb of the day, a little hill just steep enough and long enough to get the juices flowing and make me warm enoough so the morning temperature felt bracing and not cold. A quick descent into Aups, which is nowhere near Plan d'Aups, where I recharged my wallet from a cash machine. The way oout of Aups led to the first real col of the day.
These totems were guarded by two mock-fierce dogs just outside Aups. Olive trees in the background.
The descent from the col was along a military base, apparently used for both tank and mountain training. Lots of warning signs about loud noises and unexploded ordinance, and to keeep out. I think the "unexploded" part would be enouogh to make one keep out, but some people need to be told twice, I guess.
Making practice runs in the mountains, this Canadaire water bomber flew just over head. The pilots must have nerves of steel. They fly so low that they dissapear behind trees.
The road descended to Aiguines. It was too early for lunch, and the gorges of the Verdon were just a couple of kilometeres away, so I turned in that direction. Ouch! More climbing. In fact, five kilometers of it.
The river Verdon was far below. I could see the road on the other side of the gorge clearly. No bridges across the gorges, though. I was beginning to feel a bit peckish, and a sign indicated a restaurant overlooking the gorges just a few kilometers ahaead.
At last, I was back at the summit and I could coast down in Aiguines for lunch, which was pizza accompanied by compliments from other diners who had passed my on the col. Then down hill to the lake and back up a kilometer or so to Moustiers Ste. Marie, where I booked into a small hotel.
Moustiers is a very beautiful village. This is the main street in front of the Mairie.
The old church sits on a pretty square overlooking a stream tumbling down the hillside, here hidden from view, but just at the foot of the wall in the foreground.. The restaurant where I ate is visible to the right hand side.
The chapel is reached by following one of the side streets winding upward and crossing this bridge. The stream which runs through the village passes under.
In this beautiful setting, what better than a great restaurant. Le Treuille Muscat had a menu at only 21€, and it was probably the best I had on the entire tour. To start, I had a locally made Pastis, an anisette popular in the south. This alone was better than any I'd had before, but let us continue! To whet the appetite, I was served an amuse-bouche of home-made tapenade, with a verrine of mousse de sardines avec pain d'epices (pureéd sardines on dry spice bread). The entrée was maquereau et son mousseline sur sablé et caviar d'aubergines (mackerel with a mackeel pureé on a biscuit and cavar of eggplant). The main course was a cornet of pasta stuffed with ratatouille with tomato sauce. And for dessert, baba rum with passion fruit. Each course was better than the last. The cornet with ratatouille was probably the best ratatouille I've ever eaten. The mackeral fresh and succulent, the baba just the right finish. The staff was excellent, too. After this Lucullian feast, I stumbled my way back down to the hotel and sank into a blissful nightime torpor. Heaven!
I'll leave you with this, a photo of my pastis Henri Bardouin. If you like Pastis, you'll love this one.
